As we approach the end of 2019, I’m starting to reflect back on not only the year in college radio, but also the decade in college radio. While 2009 doesn’t seem like all that long ago, some major changes have occurred in the radio and technology landscapes, which have had implications for student radio.
Beginning in the late 1970s, CMJ was a major part of the college radio scene for nearly 40 years, with publications, conferences, music festivals, and long-time college radio charts. When CMJ petered out circa 2015-2016, it was a sad and notable loss for college radio. Lawsuits were filed for unpaid wages and in fall, 2018 the CMJ trademarks went up for auction. According to the auction website, “The CMJ Music Marathon was an institution of the New York music scene for 35 years. The buyer of these four CMJ Trademarks will be buying an iconic brand name in the music world.”
Yesterday, I was surprised to learn that a new CMJ is returning in 2020. As of this week, it would appear that there is a new owner of the CMJ trademarks, as they have been posting on the CMJ Twitter account (which had been stagnant since late June, 2016) and have set up a preliminary website. Yesterday’s initial CMJ tweet reads, “After a long break, CMJ is under new management and re-launching in 2020. More news soon. http://cmj.com info@cmj.com.” Folks on social media replied with their frustrations about CMJ employees not getting paid, tales of subscribers who lost out, and other grievances. The response: “We understand that totally justified unhappiness. This is a brand new company, with no connection to the former regime(s). We are working on ideas to try to right those wrongs however.”
While there are few details about the new CMJ owners and what their specific plans are, they’ve indicated that the CMJ music events may be returning in 2020. Pitchfork reports, “…the organizers told Pitchfork that former CMJ CEO Adam Klein is no longer involved with the company. (Last year, Klein was ordered by a judge to pay over half a million dollars to former employees that filed a collective lawsuit against him in 2016 for unpaid wages and other damages.)”
While CMJ’s publications, charts, and events were college radio staples for decades; various groups have launched new endeavors to fill those niches. North American College and Community Radio Chart (NACC Chart), Muzooka, RadioFX, and Spinitron are among those who have created radio charting alternatives.
As a college radio historian, I’m particularly interested in learning if the new CMJ owners have access to the decades-worth of print and online publications from CMJ’s past. @lowmediumhi asks on Twitter, “Does this mean there’s a chance we could get an online archive of all the past issues of New Music Report? Virtually every other broadcasting trade is online somewhere and this would be a valuable resource to media historians.” CMJ replied, “Great question and we have been talking about whether there is a way to do that. We are different people from before, but we would like to be able to make it happen.”
We’ve reached out to the new CMJ and will keep readers posted as we learn more about their plans for the future of the CMJ brand.
More College Radio News
College Radio Regulations
Station and Staff Profiles
- KUCI at 50: The Radio Station’s Rebellious Roots Run Deep (OC Weekly)
- Photo Essay: WMUC Radio Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Art, Music and Dessert (The Diamondback, University of Maryland)
- Local Radio Stations Offer Unique Community-oriented Programs, Music (Farmington Daily Times)
- December MD of the Month: Winter Yocom, WCRD Muncie (NACC Chart)
- KSYM Transitions after New General Manager Hired (The Ranger, San Antonio College)
Programming, Radio Drama, Podcasts
- Cloud County Community College Theatre to Present Live Radio Play (Salina Post)
- WTJU Releases Drama Podcast ‘The Perfectly Circular Rock’ (Augusta Free Press)
- Intern Shares Programming from College Radio Show on 98.5 Sports Podcast (985 The Sports Hub)
- WKNC Relaunches Music Podcast MargRock, Emphasizing Marginalized Genders and Sexualities (WKNC)
- MargRock Highlights Underrepresented Local Artists (The Technician)
- New Age of News – Newspaper Launching Podcast (The East Texan)
Events
- College Radio Station WPRK Celebrates 67 Years of Challenging Sounds Next Month at Stardust Video (Orlando Weekly)
- A Literary Capital for a Day (Chapelboro.com)
- Lewis and Clark Exhibit Targets Sexual Assault Myths (AdVantage News)
- University of Leeds Students to Grill General Election Candidates from Key Student Areas (Leeds Live)
- Student Broadcasters Convene at the Gateway to the West 2019 (Radio World)
Infrastructure, Funding, Endowed Scholarship
- Scarlet Knights’ Station WRSU Gets a Fresh Start (Radio World)
- Scholarship Supports Student Broadcasters who run the Lion 90.7 FM (Penn State University)
- Student Fees: Did We Choose Student Life? (The Silhouette, McMaster University)
Music Industry and College Radio
- WARMCharts Provides Insights and Data from Thousands of Radio Channels (AllAccess)
- CMJ Music Marathon to Relaunch in 2020 (Variety)
- CMJ Announces Plans to Relaunch in 2020 (Pitchfork)
- CMJ Relaunching in 2020 (Stereogum)
- CMJ Plans to Relaunch in 2020 under new Management (Billboard)
- CMJ Say They’re Relaunching in 2020 (Brooklyn Vegan)
Technology
- Radioplayer Canada App Tops 1M Downloads (GlobalNews)
- After the Death of iTunes Real Internet Radio is Back on the macOS Music App (Radio Survivor)
Radio Culture
- Community Broadcaster: Be Thankful for Community Radio (Radio World)
Awards and Accolades
- Marquette Music Hall of Fame Honors Northern Michigan U’s Radio X (The Mining Journal)
- Student Radio Award for University of Chester’s Tom Marland (Warrington Garland)
- Charles Parker Prize Student Radio Competition is Open for Radio Students in the United Kingdom (Charles Parker Archive Trust)
Alumni
- SIUC Moves to Award Honorary Degree to Alumnus Bob Odenkirk (The Southern)
- Obituary: WFUV Alum Bruce Allen DiMarzo (Patch)
- Ed Dague Recalled as a Sharp Trailblazer and Mentor (The Daily Gazette)
- Chris Connelly Celebrates 3 Decades as the Voice of the Marblehead Magicians (Marblehead Reporter)
- Banging Tracks: How Emily Dust’s Global Club Sounds Electrify Dancefloors (MixMag)
- Meet the Creative Mind Behind the Soundtrack of Tbiliso (Georgia Today)
- Profile of Meteorologist Madi Baggett (WJAC)
- Joe Smith, Exec at Warner Bros., Elektra and Capitol/EMI Dead at 91 (AllAccess)
- A Final Goodbye for Steve Pringle (KXL)
